Manatee Musing: Stand on Your Own Tail?

Mama Manatee was taking her new-born baby girl, Deedee, to the surface of the water. Deedee had been born moments ago. She was Mama Manatee's third baby and Mama Manatee had a feeling this baby was different than her others. More of a rebel.

Currently Deedee was on Mama’s back and Mama was going to help Deedee draw her first breath.“We're proud Manatees, Lady of the Sea,” Mama Manatee sang softly. “They call us sea cows, because we eat sea grass that grows in the shallow sea. You'll grow big and strong, Deedee, if you breathe in lots of fresh air and eat lots of sea grass.”

“What if I eat lots of fresh air and breathe in sea grass, Mama?" Deedee asked.

“You will BREATHE in air,” Mama Manatee corrected gently. “And EAT sea grass. Now stick your head out of the water. You must take your FIRST breath of air. Go on."

Deedee raised her head out of the water and did as she was told. And after that first breath, every twenty minutes, Deedee climbed on to Mama's back to go to the surface to breathe. Even when in shallow water, she rode on her Mama's back. She liked her big Mama's back.

One day, a few weeks later, Mama Manatee said - "Deedee. You're too big for me to carry to the surface now. You must breathe on your own. Swim to the surface OR stand on your tail."

"Stand on my tail?" Deedee asked, horrified. "To breathe?"

"Yes."

"How can I STAND on my tail?" Deedee demanded. "My little tail? It's not possible!"

"All sea cows stand on our tails in shallow water where the sea grass grows, Deedee."

"I'll stand on my nose," Deedee said, stubbornly. "My nose is wide. My tail is NOT."

"Suit yourself," Mama Manatee said.

And so, Deedee stood on her nose with her tail out of the water. "Mama," Deedee said, just seconds later, after inhaling gobs of sand. "Something is wrong. I can't breathe."

"That's because your nose is in the sand," Mama Manatee explained. "Sea grass grows in shallow water and you need to eat a LOT of it. Mama won't take you to the surface every twenty minutes to breathe. You're big. Either grow a nose on your tail so you can breathe through it. OR. Stand on your tail. Your choice."

Deedee sulked. She hadn't the faintest idea how to grow a nose on her tail or anywhere else. Neither did she want to stand on her tail. She was big, her tail was a slender fin. How could a creature like her balance herself on her tail? But then Deedee started to feel light-headed. It was lack of air. So, Deedee decided. Wasn't it easier to stand on her tail than to grow a nose?

Finally, after a week of trying to stand, and falling, during which time Deedee covered herself in sand, she learned the fine art of balance.

"Mama," Deedee declared. "I can finally stand on my own tail."

"Easier than growing a nose," Mama said. "Right?"

"Right," Deedee said. "Right."